First Balkenende cabinet

First Balkenende cabinet
64th cabinet of the Netherlands
Date formed	22 July 2002
Date dissolved	16 October 2002 (Replaced on 22 May 2003)
People and organisations
Head of government	Jan Pieter Balkenende
Head of state	Beatrix of the Netherlands
Member parties	CDA LPF VVD
Status in legislature	Majority government (Centre-right)
Opposition party	PvdA
History
Election(s)	2002 election
Outgoing election	2003 election
Incoming formation	2002
Outgoing formation	2003
Predecessor	Kok II
Successor	Balkenende II

The first cabinet of Jan Peter Balkenende was in office in the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 until 16 October of the same year. The term of 87 days (counting the first and last days in full and excluding its "caretaker" function that continued for months afterwards) was the shortest since the fifth cabinet of Hendrikus Colijn (25 July 1939 – 10 August 1939).

Following the 15 May 2002 elections, the division of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives (lower house) was:

On 17 May Queen Beatrix appointed Piet Hein Donner, a CDA member of the Raad van State as "informer", to investigate the possibilities for a new government. A coalition between CDA, LPF and VVD was established relatively quickly, despite some initial resistance by the VVD. By 4 July a detailed coalition agreement had been drawn up and the Queen appointed Jan Peter Balkenende, the lijsttrekker for the CDA, to form a new cabinet. The cabinet was named on 16 July and was sworn in on 22 July. The first Balkenende cabinet comprised 14 ministers and 14 state secretaries, with each post allocated to one of the coalition parties. Each of the ministers headed a department, with the exception of one "minister without a portfolio" to deal with "foreigners policy and integration", accommodated by the Ministry of Justice.

The first Balkenende cabinet was very unstable from the beginning. Elections had been held in the very recent aftermath of the assassination of Pim Fortuyn, the leader of the newly established LPF. Emotions in the Netherlands had run very high. The LPF was catapulted into enormous wins, but was unprepared for cabinet participation.

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